All the Screams I Can Choke Out
by My-Joyful-Chaos
Summary: With the shooting of a bullet that pierced through the air, her partner's skull, and her very unstable reality, Lucy just can't scream enough. (Inspired by the song Rinne/Lynne. AU Rated T for language and violence. Character death ahead! BEWARE! ONE-SHOT)


**Um, hallooo, I am My-Joyful-Chaos, and this is my very first Fairy Tail fanfiction(though not my first fanfic in the least).**

**I warn those who read this that it is pretty dark, with character death, and thoughts of suicide, and there is also some pretty harsh/dirty language, so, yeah. Proceed with caution!**

**Apologies if the quality is crappy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, for it clearly belongs to Hiro Mashima**

It had been a simple request. One with a big enough reward to tempt even those so weak they would surely be eliminated in moments.

But, her team was not a weak one. With Natsu at her side, she decided it would be near impossible to be defeated.

So, with a little bit of blind faith, she ripped the poster from the board, and strode purposefully to the salmon haired bounty hunter.

With a bit of flourish, she unrolled the parchment before his eyes.

"A request to capture a notourious theif?" He questioned, raising a brow at her. She nodded brusquely "Sounds easy."

"This theif is quite renowned in Hargion for being swift to kill without mercy. Many mages have attempted to capture him, but failed." The blonde spoke with a confidence only one who knew what they were talking about had.

"Well, if you're that desperate to pay your rent on time." He shrugged.

"I am not desperate! I just don't want to suffer consequences!" She cried, flailing her arms out in a dramatically animated motion.

"Alright, when do we leave?" His grin made her heart flutter a little.

* * *

><p>Whilst arriving in Hargion, Lucy was assaulted with an abundance of pleasant memories. Although, one of those memories involved Hargion Port being almost completely obliterated. She brushed that thought away, though, and marched on dutifully.<p>

"The authorities suspect his next hit to be at a local jewelry shop. Apparently it's pretty wel renowned for some of the rare gems used in their accesories." Natsu huffed, exasperated at the monotonous information.

"Sounds pretty typical."

"Aye!" With a happy tone, the blue cat popped out from behind Natsu, making Lucy jump just a little. She still wasn't sure how Natsu had managed to teach a cat

"Well, it doesn't matter where he is, just so long as we get him!" Lucy proclaimed, entusiastic determination dripping off her tone. "I think this mission requires a stake out!"

Both Bounty Hunter and Cat sighed(an action Lucy was not sure was possible).

-line break-

"Why is it that criminals prefer the nighttime?" Natsu asked from a leisurely position. Lucy, being far more attentative to the building before them simply snorted.

"That's an easy question." She looked back to her companion. Happy was snoring happily on his stomach. "There isn't as much security at night, nor very many spectators. Also, it provides an air of mystery. I'm sure even criminals are eccentric." She explained. Natsu snorted himself.

By a crash emanating from the building, Lucy's attention was drawn away.

"What was that?" She whispered, pulling out a pair of binoculars.

"You look like you're from a detective show." Lucy huffed a bit at her dense companion. "Like, you're one of those detective vigilante type o' characters, and you're actually not supposed to be here." Lucy turned to her partner and shushed him without a noise. He rolled his eyes a bit.

"Let's just storm the place." Lucy gently put her forehead into her palm('gently' only because she feared that smacking her head would create too much noise).

"Just shut up plea-" Another crash ensued from the building, jolting the whole team into high alert. In a few more moments, a dark figure crept from the building, a loaded sack at his side.

"Let's go!" Natsu whisper-exclaimed, jumping from the bushes and drawing his gun simultaneously.

"Don't be hasty." Lucy said to herself in slight despair. At the sight of her salmon haired partner, the criminal drew his own gun.

With a quick, almost deafening gunshot, the criminal's weapon clatter to the ground, his hand oozing sticky red.

"Natsu..." Lucy chased after, annoyance in her voice as she pulled a pair of handcuffs from her belt. Afore-mentioned bounty hunter turned back to her, a grin on his face. They were parellel to each other, like a mirror, the two grinned in satisfaction.

In another moment, however his features had morphed into horror at something behind her.

"LUCY!" She turned her whole body, slowly it seemed(at least, to her). Another gunshot fired, a bolt of sound blasting past her, hardly grazing her body.

Then, in another moment, everything fast-forwarded into an incomprehensible speed.

Natsu was on the ground, a pool of red surround his head. Lucy's gun was pointed at the theif. Once more, an ear splitting gunshot was fired. The theif was now also on the ground. The shooter was running.

And then everything slowed down again, coming to a normal speed.

With the arrival of the police, Lucy's ears were deaf to all but the sad mewlings of Happy and her own tear drops hitting the red, red ground.

* * *

><p>It was dark in her office. It was quiet, too, with only Happy's catish snores and the ticking of the clock to break the silence.<p>

With a bitter sort of regret, Lucy thought of how Natsu's boisterous laughter should be filling the space.

Why had she turned again? To look behind her? But why? Why couldn't she have guessed that it was someone about to shoot?

Why did she have to turn, clearing the space between the bullet and her dense partner?

Yet, even with that dense head of his, a bullet still pierced through.

Even with these thoughts, Lucy refused to cry. She refused to believe he could be gone. She refused to think that it was her who had a beating heart, and lungs expanding with every breath, and a brain that didn't have a fucking whole through it!

She refused to believe that it was an accident; she refused to believe that it wasn't her fault.

Her damn fault.

She looked regretfully at Happy, a certain kind of feeling filling her gut so she couldn't breathe.

The cat looked sad, even though it was just a cat.

A cat that he had loved to death.

Lucy's head made contact with her desk and long, desperate sob trickled from her throat.

It was just too much to believe that he of all people was dead! He was invincible, a force that no one could touch. He had made her feel so safe, even when the gun was pointing at her, if only for a split second.

Now he was gone, and she was vulnerable, and his god damn cat was even sad, and everything was just wrong.

Couldn't she just be given a second chance? Just one more? With the information of a gun being pointed at her head, and even just a tiny sway to the side would change whether she or he died, then she would have stood so still. Statue still. Like she was a petrification from twenty thousand years ago.

She wouldn't have minded it if she were dead. She practically wished she were dead now.

If only she had stood still, then the world would be so much brighter.

There would be Natsu, and Happy, and they would still be an unstoppable team, and everything would be fine without her.

What was she worth? More than Natsu?

No!

Lucy's head rose from the wood, and she glance at her disassembled gun only inches from her twitching fingers.

She pushed the thought away, and thrust herself up. She had a job to do.

After all, there was still a thief's partner to catch.

* * *

><p>With a burning determination, she pursued the shooter. Lead after lead came and went, but after a month or so, she finally got a break.<p>

It was a hot summer night, but not an unpleasant one. Lucy had finally traced the trail back to a warehouse, just off of Hargion Port.

When she arrived, it was quiet, peaceful. It was just like that night, but for the now high temperature.

And Lucy's gritty determination that practically consumer her soul.

With a swift motion, she silently drew her gun. Finger on the trigger, she entered the warehouse.

Inside, she found a treasure trove of stolen items, all of high value, no doubt. She clenched her teeth, and delved further into the warehouse.

It did not take long to discover that the shooter was not present. So, Lucy waited. She waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, with only her own thoughts as her companion.

Dreadful regret, perhaps depression, filled her with the thought that before, she would not have been alone. She would probably have been giggling at her partners quirky remarks and silly habits.

Like how he always clenched and unclenched his fist when he was anxious for a good fight. Or how his bangs would stick up with a stubborn cowlick that only subsided when he was absolutely drenched.

A rueful smile appeared, along with a dash of bitterness.

She was broken from her thoughts by the warehouse's side door creaking open and clicking shut. Readying her gun again, Lucy approached her target.

She rounded a corner, and there he was. He looked surprised. Quickly as he could, he went for the gun in his pocket, but Lucy was far quicker.

With a freakish accuracy, she shot somewhere that would not prove vital to his existence. He screamed out, pain engulfing his being.

The gunshot wound roared with a stinging violence. Lucy just watched as the man writhed. It was a strange feeling to kill. Like, in a way, by pulling the trigger, by shooting a man in the stomach, or heart, or head, you were not only condemning he you shot, but also yourself.

With a grieving grin, Lucy fell to her knees, her gun pointing at the still not dead man. Her finger pulled, and the man let out one more pained cry before his eyes rolled back and his body hit the pavement.

The gun clattered to the ground. It was over. She had won.

The warehouse door creaked open again, and Lucy's gaze darted to the source.

Happy trotted in, mewling hungrily.

One more sob escaped her her chest, and her hands lifted.

Whilst clutching desperately at her neck, Lucy let out a long scream.

And after that came another scream, until the morning came, and her voice was hoarse. Still, she screamed a scratchy, desperate, heart breaking shriek.

And all was silent, but for Happy's sad mewling.

* * *

><p><strong>Apologies for the darkness, but I desperately wanted to write, and this was the first idea that popped into my head.<strong>

**So, if it wasn't obvious, this fic was inspired by the song Rinne/Lynne. I did a little research on Lynne, and it's actually an "unrecognized disease in psychological terms, where the person will hold their hands around their throats, and scream to the point of losing their voice, because they are screaming for the one thing they can either no longer have or no longer reach." So, yeah, that's why this fic is so depressing.**

**THANK YOU FOR READING!**

**For now, goodbye,**

**~My-Joyful-Chaos**


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